Presents new but well-developed perspectives that will challenge established scientific approaches.

Offers insights for future engagement with the social forces driving climate change and hampering mitigation.

Climate Change and Society

Sociological Perspectives

Edited by Riley E. Dunlap and Robert J. Brulle

Description

Climate change is one of the most critical issues of the twenty-first century, presenting a major intellectual challenge to both the natural and social sciences. While there has been significant progress in natural science understanding of climate change, social science analyses have not been as fully developed. Climate Change and Society breaks new theoretical and empirical ground by presenting climate change as a thoroughly social phenomenon, embedded in behaviors, institutions, and cultural practices.

This collection of essays summarizes existing approaches to understanding the social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions of climate change. From the factors that drive carbon emissions to those which influence societal responses to climate change, the volume provides a comprehensive overview of the social dimensions of climate change. An improved understanding of the complex relationship between climate change and society is essential for modifying ecologically harmful human behaviors and institutional practices, creating just and effective environmental policies, and developing a more sustainable future. Climate Change and Society provides a useful tool in efforts to integrate social science research, natural science research, and policymaking regarding climate change and sustainability.

Produced by the American Sociological Association's Task Force on Sociology and Global Climate Change, this book presents a challenging shift from the standard climate change discourse, and offers a valuable resource for students, scholars, and professionals involved in climate change research and policy.

Climate Change and Society

Sociological Perspectives

Edited by Riley E. Dunlap and Robert J. Brulle

Author Information

Riley E. Dunlap is Dresser Professor and Regents Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University, Past President of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Environment & Society, and Past Chair of the American Sociological Association's Section on Environment & Technology. He is senior editor ofthe Handbook of Environmental Sociology and Sociological Theory and the Environment, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Robert J. Brulle is Professor of Sociology and Environmental Science at Drexel University, and Past Chair of the American Sociological Association's Section on Environment & Technology. He is author of Agency, Democracy, and Nature: The U.S. Environmental Movement from aCritical Theory Perspective and co-editor of Power, Justice and the Environment. He was a 2012 -2013 Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

Contributors:

Wokje Abrahamse is a Lecturer in Environmental Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.Alison Hope Alkon is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of the Pacific.Robert J. Antonio is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kansas. Jonn Axsen is Assistant Professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. Shannon Elizabeth Bell is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Kentucky.Steven R. Brechin is Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Jeffrey Broadbent is Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota, and leader of the international project "Comparing Climate Change Policy Networks" (COMPON).Keith Brown is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Saint Joseph's University.Robert J. Brulle is a Professor of Sociology and Environmental Science at Drexel University. Beth Schaefer Caniglia is Associate Professor of Sociology, Environmental Science, and International Studies at Oklahoma State University. JoAnn Carmin was Associate Professor of Environmental Policy and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was a lead author for the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC.Eric Chu is a doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a contributing author to the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC and the Third United States National Climate Assessment.Brett Clark is Associate Professor of Sociology and Sustainability studies at the University of Utah.Thomas Dietz is Professor of Environmental Science and Policy and Sociology at Michigan State University. He was Vice Chair of the US National Research Council Committee on Advancing the Science of Climate Change and currently serves on the NRC Committee to Advise the US Global Change Research Program.Riley E. Dunlap is Dresser Professor and Regents Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University. Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez is Senior Research Associate in the Sociology Department at Colorado State University and Founder and Director of Human Dimensions Research Associates.Lawrence Hamilton is Professor of Sociology and Senior Fellow of the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Sharon L. Harlan is Professor of Sociology and Senior Sustainability Scientist at Arizona State University. William G. Holt is Urban Environmental Studies Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Sociology at Birmingham-Southern College. Lori Hunter is Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder.Andrew K. Jorgenson is Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at Boston College.Sandra T. Marquart-Pyatt is Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Science and Policy at Michigan State University. Aaron M. McCright is Associate Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University.Joane Nagel is University Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Kansas.Kari Marie Norgaard is Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon. David N. Pellow is the Dehlsen Chair in Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.Charles Perrow, an organizational sociologist, is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Yale University.Simone Pulver is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara.Timmons Roberts is Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology at Brown University. He is a member of the Board on Environmental Change and Society of the National Research Council.Eugene A. Rosa was Edward R Meyer Distinguished Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy, Boeing Distinguished Professor of Environmental Sociology and Regent's Professor, all at Washington State University. He served on the National Research Council's Board on Environmental Change and Society. Thomas Rudel is Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Sociology and Human Ecology at Rutgers University. Juliet B. Schor is Professor of Sociology at Boston College. Linda Shi is a Doctoral Candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Rachael Shwom is Assistant Professor of Human Ecology at Rutgers University. Dale Southerton is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester. Andrew Szasz is Professor and Chair of Environmental Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Kathleen Tierney is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Institute of Behavioral Science and Director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a member of the National Research Council's Committee to Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program.Harold Wilhite is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo's Centre for Development and the Environment.Richard York is a Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon.

Climate Change and Society

Sociological Perspectives

Edited by Riley E. Dunlap and Robert J. Brulle

Reviews and Awards

Co-Winner of the 2016 Allan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award from the American Sociological Association's Section on Environment and Technology

"This is a landmark work in a number of ways. The work itself is first-rate and deserves a serious reading. Scholars and policy-makers would do well to take the time to work through the entire volume." --Human Ecology Review

"Climate Change and Society provides a superb overview of our knowledge of the social causes and consequences of climate change, and of the social obstacles to an effective response. It is essential reading." --Erik Olin Wright, Vilas Distinguished Professor, University of Wisconsin and Past President of the American Sociological Association

"As the evidence for anthropogenic global warming accumulates, social scientists have been largely missing in action when it comes to research on the human activities responsible for climate change. In this welcome volume, Brulle, Dunlap, and their colleagues critically review what we know about the issue, setting a clear agenda for further sociological research on this most pressing of problems." --Doug McAdam, Stanford University

"For a crisis that demands a profound re-thinking of our most fundamental, socially-rooted systems, sociological perspectives are far too seldom part of the climate conversation. I have learned so much from the impressive list of contributors to this book, which is filled with highly useful analyses and startling insights. It is that rare volume that will be an invaluable resource for anyone engaged in the climate fight: scholars, activists, and concerned citizens alike." --Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine

"Though more work always remains, the physical sciences have accomplished their core task when it comes to climate change. We know what we need to know about the causes and consequences of our actions. What we don't know is how to stop ourselves, which is why this book--and the social sciences--are so important from here on out." --Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Schumann Distinguished Scholar, Middlebury College

"The strengths of this volume lie in its wide coverage, well-weighted and fully referenced analyses, and evidence stemming from a strong global reach. What is clear from reading this important volume is that the science of climate change is shifting to embrace both the social sciences and the humanities. This is a hard-won transition with intellectual blood on the carpet. This is a journey still with its momentum: hence the timeliness and academic/political significance of this book." --Tim O'Riordan, Environment:Science and Policy for Sustainable Development

"Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives compiles a comprehensive synthesis of sociological attention to climate change to date, offering both reason to commend the valuable contributions made and a roadmap for future research Riley Dunlap and Robert Brulle undertake [an] ambitious [pursuit] by seeking to synthesize the contributions sociology has made to the field of climate change research. A key message offered by the editors: we cannot afford to entertain post-political perspectives. When social forces are key drivers of climate change, addressing them means conflict and politics." -- Contemporary Sociology

"A significant accomplishment." --Environmental Sociology

"There are many recent books on climate change with some social science but very few that address the role of social science in such depth. This book stands out in that regard." --Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences

"[T]he volume will be of interest not only to students of sociology and climate change and practitioners but also to climate researchers across disciplines in any endeavour to consider the social aspects of climate change." --Environmental Politics